Nonthermal electron-photon steady states in open cavity quantum materials
Coupling a system to two different baths can lead to novel phenomena escaping the constraints of thermal equilibrium. In quantum materials inside optical cavities, this feature can be exploited as electrons and cavity photons are easily pulled away from their mutual equilibrium, even in the steady s...
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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American Physical Society
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Physical Review Research |
| Online Access: | http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.7.013073 |
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| _version_ | 1832592115066994688 |
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| author | R. Flores-Calderón Md Mursalin Islam Michele Pini Francesco Piazza |
| author_facet | R. Flores-Calderón Md Mursalin Islam Michele Pini Francesco Piazza |
| author_sort | R. Flores-Calderón |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Coupling a system to two different baths can lead to novel phenomena escaping the constraints of thermal equilibrium. In quantum materials inside optical cavities, this feature can be exploited as electrons and cavity photons are easily pulled away from their mutual equilibrium, even in the steady state. This offers new routes for a noninvasive control of material properties and functionalities. We show that the absence of thermal equilibrium between electrons and photons leads to reduced symmetries of the steady-state electronic distribution function. Moreover, by defining an effective temperature from the on-shell distribution function, we find a nonmonotonic behavior as a function of cavity frequency, consistent with recent experimental findings. Finally, we show that, the nonthermal behavior leads to qualitative modifications of the materials properties, as the standard Sommerfeld expansion for observables is modified by a leading-order correction linearly proportional to the temperature difference between the two baths and to the frequency derivative of the electron damping. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d2431b427b044cd8addccb7325a2cd09 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2643-1564 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | American Physical Society |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Physical Review Research |
| spelling | doaj-art-d2431b427b044cd8addccb7325a2cd092025-01-21T15:11:52ZengAmerican Physical SocietyPhysical Review Research2643-15642025-01-017101307310.1103/PhysRevResearch.7.013073Nonthermal electron-photon steady states in open cavity quantum materialsR. Flores-CalderónMd Mursalin IslamMichele PiniFrancesco PiazzaCoupling a system to two different baths can lead to novel phenomena escaping the constraints of thermal equilibrium. In quantum materials inside optical cavities, this feature can be exploited as electrons and cavity photons are easily pulled away from their mutual equilibrium, even in the steady state. This offers new routes for a noninvasive control of material properties and functionalities. We show that the absence of thermal equilibrium between electrons and photons leads to reduced symmetries of the steady-state electronic distribution function. Moreover, by defining an effective temperature from the on-shell distribution function, we find a nonmonotonic behavior as a function of cavity frequency, consistent with recent experimental findings. Finally, we show that, the nonthermal behavior leads to qualitative modifications of the materials properties, as the standard Sommerfeld expansion for observables is modified by a leading-order correction linearly proportional to the temperature difference between the two baths and to the frequency derivative of the electron damping.http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.7.013073 |
| spellingShingle | R. Flores-Calderón Md Mursalin Islam Michele Pini Francesco Piazza Nonthermal electron-photon steady states in open cavity quantum materials Physical Review Research |
| title | Nonthermal electron-photon steady states in open cavity quantum materials |
| title_full | Nonthermal electron-photon steady states in open cavity quantum materials |
| title_fullStr | Nonthermal electron-photon steady states in open cavity quantum materials |
| title_full_unstemmed | Nonthermal electron-photon steady states in open cavity quantum materials |
| title_short | Nonthermal electron-photon steady states in open cavity quantum materials |
| title_sort | nonthermal electron photon steady states in open cavity quantum materials |
| url | http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.7.013073 |
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